Cosmic Teleology and the Crisis of the Sciences Essay example -- Philo

Cosmic Teleology and the Crisis of the Sciences ABSTRACT: This paper analyzes recent work from within the physical sciences which argue for the emergence of a new paradigm capable of unifying the sciences and demonstrating the ultimate meaningfulness of the universe. I argue that while there is powerful evidence for cosmic teleology, the works in question do not represent a new paradigm and neither unify science nor adequately accommodate the evidence in question, but rather attempt to "put new wine in old skins." As Aristotle demonstrated, only teleological argumentation offers a complete scientific explanation, and authentic teleology is effectively ruled out by the hegemonic scientific paradigm which gives first place to mathematical formalism-something which makes possible rigorous description but not authentic explanation. This does not mean returning to Aristotelian science, but rather exploring the "road not taken" when Aristotelian science entered a crisis at the end of the medieval period: generalizing the concept of tele ology so that it can accommodate both the physical (especially astronomical) evidence which created problems for Aristotelian science long before Galileo and Kepler, and account teleologically for such phenomena as chaos and disintegration. The work of scientists like Gal-Or, Bohm, and Prigogine provides important resources for moving in this direction, but a more explicit option for teleology is necessary if the evidence is to be accommodated and the internal contradictions of the existing paradigm to be resolved. There has been considerable discussion in recent years regarding the emergence of a new scientific paradigm centered on holism and self-organization. This discussion has been motivated... ...ohn and Sylla, Edith. 1978 "The Science of Motion," in David Lindberg, editor, Science in the Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pedersen, Olaf. 1978. "Astronomy," in David Lindberg, editor, Science in the Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pines, David (ed.). 1987. Emerging Syntheses in Science, New York: Addison Wesley. Prigogine, Ilya. 1977. Self-Organization in Non-Equilibrium Systems, with Nicolis, G. New York: Wiley. ________. 1979. From Being to Becoming: Time and Complexity in the Physical Sciences. New York: Freeman. ________. 1984. Order Out of Chaos, with Stengers, I. New York: Basic. ________. 1988. "An Alternative to Quantum Theory," with Tomio Petrosky, in Physica 147A: 461-486. Spinoza, Baruch. 1677/1955. Ethics. New York: Dover Tipler, Frank. 1994. The Physics of Immortality, New York: Doubleday

An Analysis of Komanuyakaa Facing It Essay -- Komanuyakaa Facing It E

An Analysis of Facing It  Ã‚      Yusef Komanuyakaa's poem "Facing It" is a brutal examination of the affects that war leaves upon men. The reader can assume that Komanuyakaa drew upon his own experiences in Vietnam, thereby making the poem a personal statement. However, the poem is also a universal and real description of the pain that comes about for a soldier when remembering the horror of war. He creates the poem's persona by using flashbacks to the war, thereby informing the reader as to why the speaker is behaving and feeling the way he is. The thirty-one lines that make up "Facing It" journey back and forth between present and past to tell the story of one man's life. The informal language and intimacy of the poem are two techniques the poet uses to convey his message to his audience. He speaks openly and simply, as if he is talking to a close friend. The language is full of slang, two-word sentences, and rambling thoughts; all of which are aspects of conversations between two people who know each other well. The fact that none of the lines ryhme adds to the idea of an ordinary conversation, because most people do not speak in verse. The tone of the poem is rambling and gives the impression that the speaker is thinking and jumping from one thought to the next very quickly. His outside actions of touching the wall and looking at all the names are causing him to react internally. He is remembering the past and is attempting to suppress the emotions that are rising within him. The first two lines of the poem set the mood of fear and gloom which is constant throughout the remainder of the poem. The word choice of "black" to describe the speaker's face can convey several messages (502). The most obvious meaning ... ..." the speaker is telling his audience that the dead soldier was a young man. The tenderness of his age further amplifies the horrific nature of war. The poem's persona and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall depend on each other to express the poem's intention. The poem's intention is to show that war is lethal, less than gloriful, and extremely real. Although years have gone by, these recollections are still affecting how he lives. Simply standing in front of the wall reminds the speaker of all of this. The Veterans Memorial takes on a life of its own. While the speaker is in its presense, the wall controls him. It forces him to remember painful memories and even cry, something he promised himself he would not do. The persona in the poem reacts to the power the wall has and realizes that he must face his past and everything related to it, especially Vietnam.   

The Versailles Treaty

Climbing from the Versailles Treaty The Versailles Treaty was commissioned by Great Britain, France, and a defeated Germany. Together they hoped the treaty would stabilize Europe and guarantee another world war would never happen again. However, just over two decades later, once again war engulfed Europe. So, is it logical that the question be asked; how did the Versailles Treaty help cause World War II? The treaty put much punishment on Germany by territory losses, major military restrictions, economical reparations, and the War Guilt Clause.World War II was one of the greatest wars of all time. One of the components that led up to this was German territorial losses. These losses included the Polish Corridor, Danzig, Alsace Lorraine, and a piece of Denmark. Out of these the Polish Corridor and Danzig impaired Germany the most because by taking the Polish Corridor it split the country into two parts, cutting some people away from their families. Also, the loss of Danzig, a major port city, as well as the loss of big coal-producing territories, greatly diminished the German economy.This reduced the German coal-production by forty percent. The people that in habituated these lost areas would have a hard life becoming accustomed to the new rule and being told that they were no longer considered a part of Germany. The peoples had resentment for the new power along with a lack of loyalty, and being discriminated against. Hitler suggests that Germans should respond to the Versailles Treaty with blood shad and valance. He says â€Å". . . No nation can remove this hand from its throat except by the sword. (DOC A) (DOC B) According to article 160 of the Versailles Treaty, the German Army must not comprise more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavalry by no later than March 31, 1920. After the passing of this date the total number of German military troops must not exceed one hundred thousand men, this total includes officers. Also, the total eff ective strength of officers, which includes the personnel of staffs, must not go over four thousand.This article continues with the role in which the army should play. The army should be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order and peace within the territory and to the control of the German frontiers. When the regulations were put into force, Germany’s Army weakened. France became the superior military force. Thus, making the Germans feel insecure about themselves and their protection. These insecurities felt by the Germans from the military restrictions, added to World War II, by making them feel less in control.The damage done during World War I was very severe and the victorious countries wanted this damage to be paid for by Germany in the aftermath. The Versailles Treaty required Germany to agree that she will make compensation for all the damage done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated powers. This also included their property, during the perio d of the belligerency (DOC C #1). The reparations that are to be made by Germany were determined by an Inter-Allied Commission, who is to consider the claims and give Germany the opportunity to defend its self.Article 233 states, â€Å"The Commission shall draw up a schedule of payments prescribing the time and manner for securing and discharging the entire obligations within a period of thirty years from May 1, 1921. † The amount of reparations set was 132 billion gold marks or $367 billion at the value in 2010. This angered and humiliated the Germans who paid very little of the reparations in the 1920s. The amounts were reduced in 1929 (from 1921) to 112 billion gold marks or $341 billion. Within the next three years the Germans paid only two billion gold marks (this does not include American Loans) (DOC C # 2).The treaty also states that if Germany fails to meet its obligations any remaining unpaid balance may be postponed for future payment or can be handled in another ma nner, that will be determined by the Allied and Associated Government affirm. Article 231 of the Versailles Treaty, also referred to as the War Guilt Clause, forced Germany to accept the responsibility that they alone caused World War I and that it was their duty to pay reparations to the Allied and Associated Governments affirm(DOC D # 1).This clause was the justification for reparations. The Germans, on the other hand, saw this treaty, â€Å"as an atrocious injustice, an evil thing which must be destroyed. † (DOC D # 2) The knowledge of the treaty was embedded into the minds of the Germans, and only one word can describe how they felt: humiliation. This is why German enthusiasm, arising from the Nazi regiment, came from the way Hitler resurrected Germany from the ashes of World War I. He restored their sense of pride, and their sense of self respect, making the world look at German anew.Although, the Versailles Treaty was a major component in the start of the Second World W ar, there were many other components that added to the ignition of the war. The Versailles Treaty alone was the most influential because it caused anger and humiliation throughout the German regiment. The treaty itself was supposed to guarantee the prevention of a Second World War, but ended up causing an even bigger uprising than thought, by territorial losses, major military restriction, economical reparations, and the War Guilt Clause.Sources: DOC A: Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1924 DOC B: Treaty of Versailles, 1919, Article 160 and German political cartoon, 1920 DOC C # 1: Treaty of Versailles, 1919, Articles 232 and 233 DOC C # 2: Chart complied from varied sources including John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1920; Charles Mee, the End of Order: Versailles, 1919 DOC D # 1: Treaty of Versailles, 1919, Article 231 DOC D # 2: Laurence V. Moyer, Victory Must Be Ours: Germany in the Great War 1914-1918, 1995

Night Mother Essay

The play â€Å"Night, Mother† addresses the human condition and how character human depth influences the way readers understand drama. The invisible characters play a large part on how the two main character’s act, and how it influences their dialogue. The father, the son of Jessie, and her ex-husband are mentioned throughout the play, and they set up the dynamic of the story, physically and emotionally. Exploring their human depth and their importance throughout the play helps the reader of the story understand theater and the drama. The father plays a large part in the play Night Mother. In the play, Jessie asks for her father’s gun. She then eventually tells her mother she is going to kill herself with it. In the play, you can tell her and her father are very close. I feel as though Jessie will only use her father’s gun because it’s as if her father is killing her. Cleaning the gun in front of her mother shows that she is making the point that she wants to kill herself. , when she could have just put it on the table or quietly went to her room with it. Throughout the play, you can barely tell the Jessie is completely serious about giving up her life. She stays so placid and calm as she tells her mother, who is in denial at first, but soon realizes as Jessie is making lists of things she will soon have to do on her own, that her daughter is completely serious. They talk about things Jessie has never been good at, like being a mother, a good wife, or having any real skills because of her battle with epilepsy. Ben Brantley from the New York Times states, â€Å"Yet anger and score-settling satisfaction flicker betrayingly across her stark features as she itemizes the long list of minuses that make up her life: her ailures as a wife and mother, her epilepsy, her lack of professional skills, the death of the father who appears to have been the only person she truly loved. † (Brantley) This quotation states that in the play, Jessie has already lost the people she has loved most already in her life. She lost her father, her son is a delinquent and her ex-husband left her because she was incapable of doing many things due to her disease. It sets a very sad tone as the play goes on. Even though Jessie seems to care a lot about her mother, since she has been taking care of her for many years, you can sort of see the bit of hostility throughout the play. Jessie blames her mother for many things that went wrong in her life. Jessie feels as though her mother never loved her father, and her father had the same seizures as she did, which her mother hid from her all along. According to Leah D Frank from the New York Times, â€Å"Next, Jessie and Thelma talk about Jessie’s ex-husband, who Thelma conspired to introduce to Jessie. During the marriage, Jessie fell off a horse, and the accident was thought to have led to her seizure disorder. But one of the truths that has come out was that Jessie began having seizures as a child, but Thelma covered it up. It was something she didn’t want to think about, so she found a way to simply go on. † (Frank) This quote explains that Thelma has been hiding so many things from Jessie, because she thought she was protecting her, but in reality it was really hurting Jessie in the long run. Thelma didn’t like to think about things, she would rather them just go on. But in the end, this really hurt Jessie because when she ‘developed’ her epilepsy, her husband left her. If she knew she had epilepsy beforehand, she wouldn’t of had a failed marriage on her head, and a delinquent son.

Causes of the Civil War

Causes of the Civil War Essay Rhys Arnott The American Civil War is one of the most significant and controversial periods in American history. The Civil War was caused by mounting conflicting pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by differences and pride, and set into motion by unlikely set of political events. At the root of all of the problems was the establishment of slavery, which had been introduced into North America in early colonial times. The American Revolution had been fought to confirm the idea that all men were created equal, yet slavery was legal in all of the thirteen colonies throughout the revolutionary period. Although it was largely gone from the northern states by 1787, it was still enshrined in the new Constitution of the United States, not only at the request of the Southern ones, but also with the approval of many of the Northern delegates who saw that there was still much money to be made in the slave trade by the Yankee shipping industry. Eventually its existence came to influence every aspect of American life. It seemed to Thomas Jefferson and many others that slavery was on its way out, doomed to die a natural death. It was becoming increasingly expensive to keep slaves in the south. Northern and Southern members of Congress voted together to abolish the importation of slaves from overseas in 1808, but the domestic slave trade continued to flourish. The invention of the cotton gin made the cultivation of cotton on large plantations using slave labor a profitable project in the deep South. The slave became an ever more important element of the southern economy, and so the debate about slavery, for the southerner, gradually evolved into an economically based question of money and power. It became an institution that southerners felt bound to protect. But even as the need to protect it grew, the ability to do this from the Souths perspective was diminishing. Southern leaders grew progressively more sensitive to this condition. In 1800 half of the population of the United States had lived in the South. But by 1850 only a third lived there and the gap continued to widen. Even though slave states were added to the Union to balance the number of free ones, the South found that its representatives in the House had been overwhelmed by the Norths explosive growth. More and more emphasis was now placed on maintaining equality in the Senate. Failing this meant that the South would find itself at the mercy of a government, in which it no longer had an effective voice in. Of course there was protest in the North for the abolition of the slavery on purely moral grounds. Abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison, holding up a copy of the Federal Constitution before a crowd in Massachusetts called it a covenant with death, and an agreement wit h hell. The abolitionists believed not only that slavery was wrong, but that the Federal government should move to abolish it. Although they were always a small minority they were very vocal about their beliefs, and projected themselves into the minds of southerners as a threat out of all proportion to their actual power and influence. This threat was greatly exaggerated in 1859 by John Browns seizure of the Harpers Ferry arsenal and his call for a general rebellion of the slaves. This caused many of the Southern states to implement plans for more effective militias for internal defense. While some in the North hated slavery because they felt that it was wrong, most people held no opinion of it at all, and some even condoned it because abolishing it would be bad for business. Without slaves there would be no cotton. Without cotton the fabric industry would suffer. To many it was just that simple. READ: Adult PTSD EssaySoon after this a new Republican Party injected its nominee, Abraham Lincoln. He was convinced that the Constitution forbade the Federal government from taking action against slavery where it already existed, but was determined to keep it from spreading further. South Carolina, in a fit of stubborn pride, announced that it would secede from the Union if Lincoln were elected. To everyones amazement Lincoln was victorious. He had gathered a mere 40% of the popular vote, and carried not a single slave state. South Carolina, true to its word, seceded on December 20, 1860. Mississippi left on January 9, 1861, and Florida on the 10th. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed. Lincolns inaugural address was at once firm and peace-making. Unwilling to strike the initial blow to compel the southern states back into the Union, he decided to bide his time. When a Federal ship carrying supplies was dispatched to reposition Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, the secessionist hand was forced. To forestall the re-supply of the fort the Rebel batteries ringing it opened fire at 4:30 a.m. on the 12th of April, 1861, forcing its rapid admission of defeat. President Lincoln immediately called upon the states to supply 75,000 troops to serve for ninety days against combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings. Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee promptly seceded. The war was on and there was no turning back. Ironically, the combination of political events, southern pride, and determination succeeded in paving the way to the elimination of slavery. Bibliography Web sites www.swcivilwar.comwww.cwc.lsu.edu/cwc/civlink.htmwww.civilwarhome.com/potpourr.htmBooksWords/ Pages : 913 / 24

Political Comic Strip & Character Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Comic Strip & Character - Essay Example The political comic strip was therefore effective in relaying an intended message using the rhetorical element of ethos, or character. As shown, the speaker in the comic strip was noted to be a president due to the visual image of the presidential seal on the podium. The readers could in fact have other characters of a president in mind, were in not for the comic strip to have been printed and published during the helm of President Obama’s term. As a president of the United States, definitely, the credibility, reliability and trustworthiness of the person had been firmly established being the topmost elected political figure. As such, the argument in the strip focused on relaying that being the president, the only dilemma of a serious economic situation, such as government spending, is the perceived reluctance of the people to spend. The message was clear, straightforward and humorous and provided the needed appeal to a wider range of audience. Webpage on Ellen DeGeneres The b iographical webpage selected was biography.com and the famous person chosen for the discussion is Ellen DeGeneres, one of the most viewed television talk show hosts in the United States in contemporary times. The objective of this portion is to evaluate how the webpage makes an argument about the subject?s character. First, after searching for the name of Ellen DeGeneres from biography.com, her profile is immediately accessed. Viewers could see her photo at the left side portion of the screen, and under the photo were quick facts such as name, occupation, birthdate, education, place of birth and even her zodiac sign. Following that rundown of short personal information, the label ‘BEST KNOWN FOR’ â€Å"Ellen DeGeneres is one of America’s most well-known comedians and talk show hosts, also serving as a prominent gay/lesbian role model† (Ellen DeGeneres.biography, 2013, p. 1) was disclosed. From this information alone, viewers who could have not known DeGene res could already be provided with an accurate overview of what she represents. The most important adjectives or words that establish the person include well-known comedian, talk show host, and gay/lesbian role model. In the middle portion of the page, the topmost portion was reserved for viewers who might opt to see a video of Ellen. Below this portion, the following headings and detailed discussions were presented in the following order: synopsis, early life, stand-up comedy, Ellen: the Sitcom, Ellen: the Talk Show, and personal life; of which the whole information are contained in two pages. From the information that are presented in this webpage, viewers are provided with enough contents that could effectively establish the character of a person. Although one has known Ellen DeGeneres from being a regular viewer of her television show, some information were new and assisted in confirming that Ellen was indeed funny, talented and has a kind and sincere heart. Her closing remarks in her Ellen: the Talk Show: ‘be kind to one another’ aptly embodies her character. Likewise, by disclosing that she was a lesbian, the brief historical information on her life and specifically at the time when she revealed this homosexuality in public could be perceived as challenging; yet, necessary to provide a more accurate image of her sexuality. Eventually, the revelation paid off since from then, her

Critical Anaysis of The Stranger by Albert Camus Essay

Critical Anaysis of The Stranger by Albert Camus - Essay Example The sun is the motif of the novel, where it affects the personality of Meursault and his reaction to his setting and conditions in life. The sun represents the existentialist philosophy of Meursault, where the natural absurdity of the setting and its plot are designed to illustrate that detachment is a natural response to the meaninglessness of human existence. The sun stands for the existentialist philosophy of Meursault, a philosophy that Camus himself believes in. Christian argues that Camus believes in an existentialist philosophy of â€Å"the Absurd† (92). He stresses that for Camus, the world and man per se are not absurd, and instead, the relationship of man with his environment is absurd (92). He maintains that people demand things from a world that cannot fulfill them, and so to exist with true hope for the fulfillment of dreams is â€Å"absurd† (92). Meursault lives life like a sun, where to exist is to accept whatever happens without any attachment to them. H e has an extremely disconnected attitude towards his mother’s death, for instance. He says at the beginning of the novel: â€Å"MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure† (Camus 4). He does not care for details when it comes to death. He values his mother enough to attend her funeral, but he does it out of duty, as a son. He does not even peek into his mother’s coffin, which people in the funeral find troubling. Strangers cry for her, while her own son does not even shed a tear. In addition, Meursault is not overly concerned of the prospect of dying himself. Death is not something that can stir him from his realization that nothing in life is worth pouring his passion over. His existence has come from nothing and will end up as nothing and that is the way life is. The sun heats up the setting and melts away any possible meaning in human action and agenda. The sun is a natural element of life’s natural cycle. The blackness of the fune ral of Meursault’s mother is distinguished because of the sun. Meursault, nevertheless, finds no meaning in these rituals and beliefs about the dead. The black colors of the hearse and horse and the noxious scents of the environment only serve to dull Meursault’s senses. In short, the funeral makes him want to sleep it away. Blackness means nothing, while sleeping is something that is more directly experienced. Furthermore, the sun also increases the temperature enough to make people live without concern for their actions. Meursault tumbles in his life in a state of coma and existence, because he always feels hot and uncomfortable. He wants to hurry up the funeral, because he feels the physical discomfort of standing under the sun. The Marengo landscape is illustrated as â€Å"something inhuman, discouraging† (Camus 11). Camus indicates that Meursault cannot be completely blamed for his absurdist approach to life, because his environment is disconcerting too. Vo n Dehsen calls it the â€Å"unreasonable silence of the world† to people who want to find meaning in life (39). Meursault realizes that his boss dislikes the fact that he will have several days off. His boss is only after making more money from his employees and is not truly concerned for him to attend his mother’s funeral and go over his grief. The society is not concerned of meaningful human existence too. Meursault’s relationships are important events in his life, as the plot reveals, but he